The Exorbitant Cost of Cheap Clothes: The Environmental and Humanitarian Harms of Fast Fashion

Thick, black smoke pumped into the bleak sky. Cramped workplaces pervaded by pungent miasma of chemicals. A pair of jeans for sale at 20 dollars on Amazon. We seldom associate the first two scenes to the third; however, responsible for 10% of global CO2 emission and 1.4 million work-related injuries per year, fashion industry’s acceleration and expansion is bringing pressing yet commonly ignored repercussions.

Today, the fashion industry operates primarily through a unsustainable yet lucrative business model named “fast fashion,” which attracts consumers with frequent novelty in the form of low-priced, trend-led products. It entices customers into buying mass-produced replica of catwalk trends and haute couture designs at bargain prices, oftentimes inducing them to buy more than what’s necessary. Thus, fast fashion heavily relies on cheap manufacturing, recurring consumption, and short-lived garment use. Fashion brands and factories are fighting to secure the cheapest labor, while customers are throwing away “old” clothes at an increasing rate. Consequently, the fast fashion model has brought concerning, if not devastating, humanitarian and environmental consequences.

Fast Fashion’s Expansion

​With its remunerative fast fashion model, the fashion industry has experienced tremendous growth over the last two decades. Since the start of this millennium, when the fast-fashion phenomena started, clothing sales have doubled, rising to 200 billion units per year. Although the drastic increase in the production and consumption of fashion products is accompanied by a considerable amount of population growth, the expansion of the fashion industry is largely fueled by the fast fashion model. Offering timely and trendy fashion designs, fashion retailers instill a sense of urgency when customers are hesitating to purchase new clothes, thereby encouraging the consumption of fashion products. In accordance with the more frequent apparel consumption in the fast fashion model, the per capita production of textile fibers has grew from 9.4 kilograms in 2000 to 14 kilograms in 2020.

This rapid expansion in fashion production and consumption, in turn, drives the price of clothes down. In the European Union and the United Kingdom, for example, the per capita expenditure on clothing and footwear has decreased from approximately 12% to 5% of total annual expenditure between 2009 and 2020, despite an increase in garment products owned. The low price of clothes perpetuates and further amplifies customers’ habit of buying more fashion items and wearing each item less frequently, facilitating the fast fashion model. In 2020, 62 million tonnes of textile products are sold. This number is projected to reach 102 million tonnes by 2030. The entire fast-fashion industry, similarly, is projected to jump to $133.43 billion by 2026 from $99.23 billion in 2022. The speedy development and expansion of fast fashion is essentially fostered by a detrimental cycle in which the increase in apparel production decreases the price of clothes, resulting in further increases in apparel consumption and decreases in price. With a growing consumer base, the fashion industry has a thriving prospect, leading to questions about its unsustainable practices.

Chasing the Cheapest Needle

Because the fast fashion model attracts consumers with affordable, trendy clothes, securing inexpensive sources of production is crucial for fashion conglomerates to maintain and maximize their profit. To minimize the cost of labor, retailers have been “chasing the cheapest needle around the world,” namely shifting textile production to developing countries such as Sri Lanka, where workers demand lower wages. These countries often have very limited trade union representation and government protection of workers’ rights. Hence, in practice, there is no effective mechanism that obligates fashion retailers to ensure that workers work under decent conditions.

The lack of regulation on fashion brands has proven to be grievous for manual workers. In many countries, poverty pay is standard for garment workers, most of which are women. In Ethiopia, for instance, it is typical for workers to receive less than $7 per week, an amount insufficient for survival.

Aside from low wages, garment workers face discriminatory exploitation. From poor working condition to sexual and physical harassment, garment workers, especially women, are abused. Moreover, the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre reported that during the Covid-19 pandemic, labor deprivation has deteriorated due to intensified pressure on fashion item suppliers. However, the mistreatment of workers does not end there. In a report from the UK Parliament, it is concluded that child labor, prison labor, forced labor, and bonded labor are often involved in the textile industry. While it might seem unrealistic that coerced labor is used to produce the clothes we wear, such instances are actually occurring. Yet, fast fashion has even more widespread, calamitous ramifications.

This rapid expansion in fashion production and consumption, in turn, drives the price of clothes down. In the European Union and the United Kingdom, for example, the per capita expenditure on clothing and footwear has decreased from approximately 12% to 5% of total annual expenditure between 2009 and 2020, despite an increase in garment products owned. The low price of clothes perpetuates and further amplifies customers’ habit of buying more fashion items and wearing each item less frequently, facilitating the fast fashion model. In 2020, 62 million tonnes of textile products are sold. This number is projected to reach 102 million tonnes by 2030. The entire fast-fashion industry, similarly, is projected to jump to $133.43 billion by 2026 from $99.23 billion in 2022. The speedy development and expansion of fast fashion is essentially fostered by a detrimental cycle in which the increase in apparel production decreases the price of clothes, resulting in further increases in apparel consumption and decreases in price. With a growing consumer base, the fashion industry has a thriving prospect, leading to questions about its unsustainable practices.

Chasing the Cheapest Needle

Because the fast fashion model attracts consumers with affordable, trendy clothes, securing inexpensive sources of production is crucial for fashion conglomerates to maintain and maximize their profit. To minimize the cost of labor, retailers have been “chasing the cheapest needle around the world,” namely shifting textile production to developing countries such as Sri Lanka, where workers demand lower wages. These countries often have very limited trade union representation and government protection of workers’ rights. Hence, in practice, there is no effective mechanism that obligates fashion retailers to ensure that workers work under decent conditions.

The lack of regulation on fashion brands has proven to be grievous for manual workers. In many countries, poverty pay is standard for garment workers, most of which are women. In Ethiopia, for instance, it is typical for workers to receive less than $7 per week, an amount insufficient for survival.

Aside from low wages, garment workers face discriminatory exploitation. From poor working condition to sexual and physical harassment, garment workers, especially women, are abused. Moreover, the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre reported that during the Covid-19 pandemic, labor deprivation has deteriorated due to intensified pressure on fashion item suppliers. However, the mistreatment of workers does not end there. In a report from the UK Parliament, it is concluded that child labor, prison labor, forced labor, and bonded labor are often involved in the textile industry. While it might seem unrealistic that coerced labor is used to produce the clothes we wear, such instances are actually occurring. Yet, fast fashion has even more widespread, calamitous ramifications.

The Environmental Cost of Fast Fashion

From water and chemical use during fiber production to CO2 emission during clothing manufacturing and distribution, the fashion industry exerts environmental impacts throughout its supply chain. Accountable for 79 billion cubic meters of annual water consumption, textile production is the second most water-intensive industry in the world. Studies have associated this extravagant use of water to water scarcity in arid regions, demonstrating that the fashion sector is responsible for 7% of local groundwater and drinking water losses, predominantly in water-stressed manufacturing regions in India and China. Beyond exacerbating water shortages, garment production could contaminate local water supplies and degrade entire ecosystems by generating poisonous by-products. For example, in Cambodia, textile manufacturing has caused approximately 60% of water pollution and 34% of chemical pollution on a national level. Because the improper disposal of toxic debris and chemicals tend to cause regional but not global problems, the fashion industry disproportionately deteriorate the environment of less developed countries, where most clothing production is located at.

On a global scale, the fashion industry has high carbon footprints. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported that 10% of global CO2 emission is to be attributed to the textile industry. Many procedures in apparel production, including fiber extraction and garment fabrication, demands high energy use, resulting in greenhouse gas emissions.

Albeit largely inevitable, these aforementioned environmental consequences of apparel production have been substantially escalated by the fast fashion model, as it is dependent on mass production and consumption. While the lifetimes of clothes rarely exceed four years, less than 1% of total textile production is recycled. The low recycling rate leaves a large amount of discarded textile to be incinerated or landfilled, stressing the urgent need to decelerate the fast fashion model.

The Road to Sustainability​

Despite its negative concomitants, the flourishing of fast fashion has brought significant opportunities for transforming the fashion industry. Commensurate with the extensive consequences of fast fashion, stakeholders and policymakers have became increasingly aware of the issues surrounding textile production.

In response to the collapse of the shoddily constructed Rana Plaza garment factory complex in Bangladesh, which took the lives of 1138 workers, employees and activists have exerted immense pressure on fashion suppliers to improve the conditions of workers, and yielded meaningful results. The EU, seeking to put a halt on fast fashion, required clothes sold in Europe to be longer-lasting. The expansion of fast fashion provoked the race for the cheapest needle and led to environmental devastation, which, in turn, invoked the advocacy of workers’ rights and environmental policies. Supported by workers, activists, and legislators, efforts to put the brakes on fast fashion are guiding us to a more sustainable future.

The Road to Sustainability

Despite its negative concomitants, the flourishing of fast fashion has brought significant opportunities for transforming the fashion industry. Commensurate with the extensive consequences of fast fashion, stakeholders and policymakers have became increasingly aware of the issues surrounding textile production.

In response to the collapse of the shoddily constructed Rana Plaza garment factory complex in Bangladesh, which took the lives of 1138 workers, employees and activists have exerted immense pressure on fashion suppliers to improve the conditions of workers, and yielded meaningful results. The EU, seeking to put a halt on fast fashion, required clothes sold in Europe to be longer-lasting. The expansion of fast fashion provoked the race for the cheapest needle and led to environmental devastation, which, in turn, invoked the advocacy of workers’ rights and environmental policies. Supported by workers, activists, and legislators, efforts to put the brakes on fast fashion are guiding us to a more sustainable future.